Winter sports to drive health kick in China

A growing number of Chinese people are increasingly aware of the importance of health and nutrition, especially with winter sports gaining popularity in the country, said industry insiders.

"With the 2022 Winter Olympics drawing near, winter sports have been quickly popularized in China. We hope to leverage our advantages in sports and nutrition to help improve health nationwide," said Zheng Qunyi, chairman of US nutrition company Herbalife Nutrition in China.

His words came after the company last week announced a donation of 9.05 million yuan ($1.2 million) to establish a fund in Beijing Sport University. The fund will be used for popularizing ice hockey and nutrition research for winter sports on campus.

The new fund will first help schools promote ice hockey by donating ice hockey textbooks, equipment and synthetic rinks, as well as holding ice hockey classes and helping to form ice hockey teams.

Such donations are expected to benefit a total of 80 schools nationwide as well as around 18,000 teenagers.

"Through the close cooperation, we can also contribute to the development of Healthy China and the development of winter sports," said John Agwunobi, co-president and chief health and nutrition officer at Herbalife Nutrition.

The State Council, China's cabinet, issued the guideline for the Healthy China Initiative in July this year to drive disease prevention and health promotion in the country.